My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss

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My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss
Format Hoax Reality Game Show
Starring William August
Jamie Denbo
David Jahn
Tamara Clatterbuck
Kent Sublette
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 10
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Fox
Original run November 7, 2004 – December 12, 2004
Chronology
Related shows My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, The Apprentice (US TV Series)
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss was a television show on the Fox Network that was filmed in July 2004[1] and aired in 2004-2005. Similar to My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, it was a parody of shows such as The Apprentice. The contestants performed several tasks that they were told would help them win a job at the Chicago-based conglomerate IOCOR and a $250,000 prize. However, the contestants did not know that the company - and the position - were fake.

The show was usually punctuated by the actions of the "boss" 'Mr. N. Paul Todd' (an anagram of 'Donald Trump'). The contestants learn about his multi-billion-dollar venture capital firm IOCOR, and in any episode, he or a member of his 'family' could usually be found doing something to unsettle the contestants or to test the limit of their blindness to truth.

Fox advertised the show, along with another Apprentice-inspired show called The Rebel Billionaire, during the 2004 Major League Baseball playoffs. The show received low ratings in the United States and was cancelled after five episodes. Fox released the remaining 5 episodes online in late March 2005. All 10 episodes were broadcast in full in the UK on Channel 4 (and on Channel 4's sister station E4), in Australia on Channel 7 and later Fox8, in Singapore on Channel 5, in Poland on TV4 and Polsat, in Malaysia on 8TV and in Denmark on SBS Net.

Contents

[edit] Rules

The rules of the game were similar to The Apprentice. The contestants were split into teams, with a team boss immune from elimination. The teams would then compete in a challenge to determine which would be eliminated. Some of the tasks endured by the contestants included selling hot soup on a hot day, creating and selling art they made out of scraps, and selling other ridiculous products. The members of the losing team met Mr. Todd in the boardroom on the next day, where he derided their performance. The team boss nominated two teammates for elimination. The player not eliminated became the team boss, and the winning team named a new team boss.

The audience would then see N. Paul Todd referring to 'the real boss' for the decision on who was to go. The real boss was not seen or heard until the final episode, and was kept a complete secret from the contestants. The official website suggested that the real boss could be Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump or Oprah Winfrey, although David Hickman did refer to the boss as a 'him'.[2] The real boss gave no reason for the decision, so Todd was given free rein to make it up as he went along.

[edit] N. Paul Todd

N. Paul Todd was played by actor William August, a graduate of Harvard University and an experienced California attorney.

August described Todd as a man who "probably has a number of sexual harassment lawsuits pending."[3]

Todd's catch phrase for elimination was "Get the hell out of my office." Another of his catch phrases was "Welcome to my world."

A variety of assistants helped Mr. Todd with his contests. His alleged Vice President Jamie Samuels is sent to hate the women, while the COO David Hickman is "a little too excited about these fresh-faced young men."[4] Mr. Todd also relies on his wife Lynn and his son Kent to help judge the competition when a member of the executive team is not available.

[edit] Cast

Role Real Name "Position"
N. Paul Todd William August The Obnoxious Boss
Jamie Samuels Jamie Denbo Executive Vice President, IOCOR
David Hickman David Jahn Chief Operations Officer (COO), IOCOR
Lynn Todd Tamara Clatterbuck Wife of N. Paul Todd
Kent Todd Kent Sublette Son of N. Paul Todd
Danielle Todd Danielle Schneider Daughter of N. Paul Todd
Shannon Shannon Hall Executive Assistant to N. Paul Todd
Jason Jason Kollar Bodyguard to N. Paul Todd
Michael Delaney Michael Keenan IOCOR Board Member
John Benjamin John Gilbert IOCOR Board Member

Reality Casting by Isabel Reyes

[edit] Contestants

Team 1 Team 2
Femron Concad
Candidate Age Hometown Result
Annette Dziamba - Sales 24 Whippany, NJ Winner of $350,000
Michael Gregorio - Liquor Sales 34 Reading, MA Runner-up; winner of $200,000
Kerry McCloskey - Marketing Director 29 Jersey City, NJ Eliminated in episode 9
Damian Scott - Entrepreneur 29 Chicago, IL Eliminated in episode 9
David Harper - Financial Advisor 25 Atlanta, GA Eliminated in episode 8
Douglas Dennard - Investment Banker 24 Greenville, NC Eliminated in episode 7
Whitney LaBelle - Sales Director 26 Atlanta, GA Eliminated in episode 6
Robert Hospidor - Mortgage Broker 28 Middlesex, NJ Eliminated in episode 5
Tonia Jacobs - Construction 35 San Marcos, TX Eliminated in episode 4
Elli Frank - Entertainment Marketing Company Owner 26 Jacksonville, FL Eliminated in episode 3
Christy Hollie - Sales 30 Austin, TX Eliminated in episode 2
Daniel Hoe - Financial Manager 29 Dallas, TX Eliminated in episode 1

[edit] Teams

The contestants were initially split into a male and female team. Each team was responsible for naming their opponent. The men named the female team Femron, a portmanteau of female and Enron. The women named the male team Concad, a portmanteau of con and cad.

The teams were re-organized in episode 4. At the beginning of episode 8, the remaining five players were combined into a united team for an elimination, where Damian was named team boss. Afterwards, the four players left over were split into two teams for the episode's challenge. Following that challenge, the three finalists were on their own.

Candidate Episode 1 team Episode 4 team Episode 8 team Result Team Boss (Win/Loss)
Annette Dziamba Femron Femron Femron Winner Episodes 2 (L), 5 (W), 7 (L)
Michael Gregorio Concad Femron Concad Runner-up Episode 1 (L)
Kerry McCloskey Femron Concad Femron Eliminated in episode 9 Episodes 3 (L), 5 (L)
Damian Scott Concad Concad Concad Eliminated in episode 9 Episodes 3 (W), 7 (W), 8
David Harper Concad Concad Eliminated in episode 8 Episode 4 (L), 6 (W)
Douglas Dennard Concad Femron Eliminated in episode 7 Episode 6 (L)
Whitney LaBelle Femron Femron Eliminated in episode 6 Episode 4 (W)
Robert Hospidor Concad Concad Eliminated in episode 5 Episode 2 (W)
Tonia Jacobs Femron Concad Eliminated in episode 4 Episode 1 (W)
Elli Frank Femron Eliminated in episode 3
Christy Hollie Femron Eliminated in episode 2 1-0 (win in week 3)
Daniel Hoe Concad Eliminated in episode 1

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Episode 1: How Low Can You Go?

  • Air date: November 7, 2004
  • Days: Days 1-3 of the competition.
  • Summary: Mr. Todd introduces himself, his company, and the game to the contestants over hors d'oeuvres made from cheap ingredients. He splits the contestants into men's and women's teams and assigns the teams to come up with the opposing team's names.
  • Task: Given some garbage and no money, raise the most amount of money by begging.
  • Concad (men's team) boss: Mike
  • Femron (women's team) boss: Tonia
  • Winning team: Femron, $334.10
    • Reasons for win: The women of Femron pretend they are raising money for a cheerleading camp. By comparison, Concad raises money for the "Help Chicago" charity which would pass money on to Chicago-area charities.
    • Reward: Sleep on mattresses that were stuffed with $10,000 each.
  • Losing team: Concad, $312.46
    • Penalty: Sleep in a vacant lot under the L in the worst area of Chicago.
    • Eliminated: Dan. The explanation was that Dan wore a more expensive suit than Mr. Todd. Robert survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 2: The Sword and the Soup

  • Airdate: November 14, 2004
  • Days: Days 3-6 of the competition.
  • Summary: Mr. Todd invites six of the contestants to tour his mansion and meet his wife. The mansion features Todd's most prized possessions, including two vases belonging to Napoleon, a 1929 Steinway piano, chandeliers identical to those in the West Wing, the Excalibur sword, and his first million dollars.
  • Task: Sell hot soup in Chicago on a hot July day.
  • Concad boss: Robert
  • Femron boss: Annette
  • Winning team: Concad, $521
    • Reasons for win: Concad initially interferes with Femron's sales. After shaking off the men, Femron claims to be a women-owned catering company. The IOCOR staff deploys italian ice vendors to follow both teams, though primarily Femron. Concad pretends David is a model for the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog and proceeds to use their sex appeal, similar to the Femron strategy from the first episode.
  • Losing team: Femron, $431
    • Eliminated: Christy. Before eliminating her, Mr. Todd told her that she was not a team player. Kerry survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 3: That's Fascinating

  • Airdate: November 21, 2004
  • Days: Days 6-10 of the competition.
  • Summary: Mr. Todd invites three women to join him on the yacht Perseverance II and three men to join him at Harborside International Golf Center. Mr. Todd gave the women bikinis on the boat and after going swimming in Lake Michigan, did not show up to his appointment with the men.
  • Task: Create a mascot for Drycon, a company that sells hydrocyanic acid, with an informational presentation in front of 8-year-old children and their parents. The children voted on the winning team.
  • Concad boss: Damian
  • Femron boss: Kerry
  • Winning team: Concad
    • Reasons for win: The men feature a superhero, Captain Drycon, who fights against villains that personify the symptoms of exposure to hydrocyanic acid. Their jingle was "Drycon everywhere you look." The women composed an ensemble of characters that graphically demonstrated the symptoms and their jingle was not catchy. Mr. Todd lamented that as the most attractive, Whitney did not belong in a frog suit.
    • Note: The frog suit used in this episode was also used in the Charity Drive episode of Arrested Development.
  • Losing team: Femron
    • Eliminated: Elli. Mr. Todd praised Elli as creative and the only Femron team member with "brass ones." Whitney survived elimination despite Mr. Todd's accusations of manipulating him.

[edit] Episode 4: Craptacular!

  • Airdate: December 5, 2004
  • Concad boss: David
  • Femron boss: Whitney
  • Winning team: Femron
  • Losing team: Concad
    • Eliminated: Tonia. Kerry survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 5: Thanks, I Appreciate That

  • Airdate: December 12, 2004
  • Concad boss: Kerry
  • Femron boss: Annette
  • Winning team: Femron
  • Losing team: Concad
    • Eliminated: Robert. David survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 6: Next Stop, the Guggenheim!

  • Airdate: unaired
  • Concad boss: David
  • Femron boss: Douglas
  • Winning team: Concad
  • Losing team: Femron
    • Eliminated: Whitney. Annette survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 7: Drop Dead Gorgeous

  • Airdate: unaired
  • Concad boss: Damian
  • Femron boss: Annette
  • Winning team: Concad
  • Losing team: Femron
    • Eliminated: Douglas. Mike survived elimination.

[edit] Episode 8: Blowin' in the Wind

  • Airdate: unaired
  • Initial boss: Damian
    • Eliminated: David, per Damian's decision.
  • Winning team: Annette and Kerry (Femron)
  • Losing team: Damian and Mike (Concad)
    • Eliminated: The elimination was shown in the next episode.

[edit] Episode 9: My Kingdom for a Chicken

  • Airdate: unaired
  • Eliminated: Damian. Mike survived this elimination, which was from the last episode's challenge.
  • First place: Mike, 1996 Cristal worth $133.33
  • Second place: Annette, men's watch worth $31.67
  • Eliminated: Kerry, Sony CD/DVD player worth $20.00

[edit] Episode 10: The Real Boss is...

  • Airdate: unaired
  • Summary: The real boss is revealed to be a monkey (Mowgli) who would decide the winning contestant by spinning a wheel with the contestants names written on portions of the wheel.
  • Winner, $350,000: Annette
  • Runner-up, $200,000: Mike

[edit] After the Show

Annette is now a professional model.[1] Kerry has written a book.[2] As of 2007, Elli remains the president of Eye5.[5] Jamie Denbo and Kent Sublette both have moved on to late night television programs, with Denbo featured on The Late Late Show and Sublette joining the writing staff of Saturday Night Live in 2007.

Due to the deception required in creating this show and the mid-season cancellation, it is unlikely that this show will return with another season. If another season were to be aired, it would likely be with a difficult-to-recognize cast.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The month was identified as July in Episode 2. The contestants demonstrate knowledge of the The Apprentice (US TV Series), which aired in 2004, the same year as this show.
  2. ^ Episode 2.
  3. ^ Episode 1.
  4. ^ Episode 2.
  5. ^ Richard Johnson, Please Don't Call Her Madam, New York Post, September 13, 2007

[edit] External links